Multimedia journalist

Concert review: Pitbull, Flo Rida, DJ Laz

After spending many years following Saturday night home games with retro and Latin acts like Poison, KC & The Sunshine Band, and Willy Chirino, the Florida Marlins held their first hip-hop concert after Saturday’s 8-4 loss to the New York Mets: Miami rappers Pitbull, Flo Rida and DJ Laz.

Local pride outweighed good performances, as all three artists had lackluster showings.

I was initially shocked by the production value. I expected a DJ and dozens of hypemen, but was instead greeted with a modest sized stage (with instruments!, although they were only used during Pitbull’s closing set).

The “Pimp With The Limp,” DJ Laz, started the show. The Power 96 Morning Show host had backup dancers and some homeboys whose names were never mentioned. Besides a mix of booty music for the dancers to get down to, he performed “She Can Get It,” and the ultimate Miami staple, “Oye Morena.”

But Laz’s friends were badly lip syncing, as the DJ played the actual songs (not the instrumental versions), a problem that plagued not only every performer of the night, but that is slowly becoming more and more common in live hip-hop.

That is lazy and should be completely unacceptable.

Flo Rida’s performance had less fluff, but was also plagued by him struggling to scream loud enough into his mic to be heard over his own recorded vocals on the song.

Flo also needs lessons in creating a good set list, as he performed his two biggest hits, “Low,” and “Right Round,” in the middle of his set, leaving the otherwise enthusiastic audience seated and bored as he finished with less-known songs.

Pitbull deserves the most credit for his performance, because he had a few musicians onstage (a drummer, a percussionist, and a keyboardist), although they were so low in the mix early in the set, they were inaudible.

The drummer and percussionist shined several times with Latin breaks and fills on songs like “Ay Chico (Lengua Afuera).” They also kept the beat going between songs, creating seamless transitions that kept the fans dancing (unlike Flo Rida’s performance, where the DJ ended every song with jarring, excessive explosion sounds).

But as with the other performers, Pitbull’s DJ played the actual songs, not the instrumentals, which means he was screaming over his own recorded vocals. This is just plain lazy, and enables the rappers to be bad performers and rely on their recorded vocals.

Pitbull, Flo Rida and DJ Laz closed the show together with a performance of “Move Shake Drop” from Laz’s Category 6 album.

Neither of the three are worth paying money to see, but none of the performances were a trainwreck either.

If you like any of the artists, and they happen to play after a Marlins game you’re already attending, you won’t hate yourself for sticking around. But that’s about it.

7 thoughts on “Concert review: Pitbull, Flo Rida, DJ Laz”

You have got to be kidding me!!! This was an awesome concert that both me WHITE SINGLE SOON 40YR OLD MAMA just loved. Came out from the post-game show totally soaked from dancing the whole time. My 11yr old son loved it just as much. Dont know if you were really there but it sure doesnt sound like it. Had behind me a lady (Latina) in her 60’s jamming it to FLO-RIDA and when he took his shirt off she just like all other girls went nuts!!!
Try to deliver some positive stuff in stead of just the whining.

Well it seems your adamant deprecation and criticism of the Florida Marlins organizations selection of evening performers may be a tad bias sir. You certainly seem to know your way around a Hip Hop album but this perspicacity you have pertaining to new and old Hip Hop artists obviously sways your conception. A Latin American and/or Hispanic female may view the performances by one Flow Rider and Daddy Bull Dogs as one that would make her “wet” as MD so graphically describes. And she is apparently a Caucasian-American, not even Latina.
They all seemed to have a swell time at this performance post Marlins loss. Why must you be so cynical?
It seems very clear to myself that on that clear blue breezy spring evening, it was not MD’s perspiration that in deed saturated her…I believe there was one wry, misanthropic fretting CRITIC—raining on her parade.

GOOD DAY SIR…and do the Klumps before you go buddy.

p.s. Holler back at me MD and i’ll soak your loins like you wouldn’t believe honey.